Danny Kaleikini Obituary, Death – Danny Kaleikini, a well-known musician and singer who was known as the “ambassador of aloha” for Hawaii because of his long career, has died. He was 85. His wife of 64 years, Jacqueline, their daughter Leonn, their grandson Nicholas, and a sister are all still here to remember Kaleikini. Family members said that he died peacefully at St. Francis Hospice on Friday morning. During the last month, many musicians from Hawaii gathered there to play and spread aloha. Nicholas Kaleikini, the man’s grandson, said, “When I was a kid, he was my hero.”
Everyone else’s needs were always more important to him than his own. Even though he was famous and wealthy, he never stopped loving Hawaii. Josh Green, who was governor at the time, said that Kaleikini was “the friendliest person I’d met in Hawaii.” “That was his magic,” he said. He grew up in Papakolea, and he says that hot dogs were part of “all the holidays.” As a treat for the holiday, we serve hot dogs. He made a joke about getting a hot dog for the New Year. Even though things were hard, he remembered that his parents were a safe place for him.
His mother was a bartender, and his father worked for the garbage service in the city. Kaleikini also did well in school, and she eventually became president of the Kawananakakoa Intermediate student body. They would often ask the two brothers from Papakolea to come over and sing when they wanted to hear a song. The song “O Kala Mapua” was also a favorite of ours. In an interview with Hawaii News Now, Kaleikini said, “After we sang, we would get $2 or $3.” Soon after he graduated from high school, Kaleikini started working in Waikiki.
He worked at the Waikiki Sands Hotel and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel before moving to the Hilton Hawaiian Village in 1960. There, he became the main act in the Tapa Room. At age 29, Kaleikini put on two shows every night on the Hala Terrace of the Kahala Hilton. Along the way, he became friends with presidents, foreign dignitaries, and Hollywood A-listers. He was the first non-Japanese performer at the Hiroshima Peace Music Festival. He played to a sold-out Carnegie Hall crowd. In 1959, something amazing and eye-opening happened to him and Duke Kahanamoku.